Exploring Other Options
by gleechild
Summary: ...What are you doing here?... Kris' future looked bleak until HE drove up with an offer she couldn't refuse. 2nd in my :Who Is It: series!  discontinued


No where to go and no where to belong. She really needed to stop pitying herself so much. She did bring this all on herself after all. She forgot that she shouldn't trust anyone, look where it got her. She also forgot that she was one of those special people who couldn't do anything wrong without getting caught. Oops.

Turning around, she saw a car had pulled over behind her. It was dark out and she didn't think anyone would see her in time to stop—unless it was someone looking for her.

Sighing, she flipped her hair over her shoulders and walked towards the car. She didn't recognize that car but she had a feeling she'd recognize the person behind the wheel. She _really_ hoped it wasn't Matt or Junior—she didn't want to see them ever again if she could help it. It would hurt too much.

Coming up to the driver's window that was winding down automatically, she tilted her head and asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Sheik Omar smiled gently, "I'm looking for you. A little birdie gave me a call. I know what happened with the racing officials. I feel horrible about you losing your license. I was hoping to catch up with you. You look tired, do you need a ride?"

Kris tapped her foot and rolled her eyes. She chewed on the bottom right corner of her lip as she considered his question. Finally she let out a sound of frustration, turned with a huff and walked around to the passenger side door.

She climbed inside and he asked "Where to?"

She responds with "How far are you going?"

"Funny you should ask," he says with a laugh. "Seriously, where to?

"Virginia," she responded.

"Virginia, huh? You were planning on walking there?" he smiled at her.

She just looked at him. She didn't think she needed to answer such a dumb question.

"What's in Virginia?" he asked.

"My brother," she turned and looked straight ahead, "and my dad."

He started driving.

"Virginia it is. In the meantime, I have a question for you," he said.

"I'm listening," she said—she wasn't really in the mood to talk.

"What will you do now? I mean, now that you can no longer jockey? What's your backup, I believe you Americans call it?" he asked.

She was silent for a long minute before responding, "I don't know."

"You don't know? You don't have a backup? There must be something else you can do besides ride horses?" he inquired.

"No! There isn't! The only thing I've ever done well is jockey, okay? And now, thanks to you, I can never do it again! What am I going to do now? I'm going to go see my brother, try to make nice with my father, and probably get a job flipping burgers, okay? Happy now?" she practically shouted at him. She didn't know why she was acting this way—she was in the presence of royalty after all.

"Whoa, such fire! No wonder you get along with Wildfire so well. You know, I didn't just like Wildfire, I also liked his jockey," he explained.

She stiffened and looked at him sharply.

"No, no, nothing like that. As you know, I live on the outskirts of Europe. My brother is king and I'm next in line. What you may also know about me is that I love horse racing. I've prided myself on becoming a collector of some of the best horses in the world. But I have a slight problem. I don't have a good jockey for those horses. No one can ever win every race, but I've seen you perform. Since the Gold Cup I knew I wanted you to race for me. I didn't think you ever would accept so I never extended the invitation. Now that you find yourself with few choices, I'd like to give you a new one," he said.

"Come to Europe with me. Be my jockey Kris," he almost commanded.

She looked at him in surprise.

"But, my license—" she started.

"…was revoked in all fifty states. The United States is not Europe. There's a whole other racing world out there that has nothing to do with this little one over here," he replied.

She was floored. She hadn't even thought about that possibility.

"You have time to think about it Kris. It's a long trip to Virginia."

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"What—where are we?" Kris said sleepily. She woke up when the car stopped. She looked at the clock in the car; they had been driving an hour.

"Hey there sleeping head," he said.

She looked around and realized they were in the hangar of the same place Kerry had taken her to go for a ride in his aircraft.

"What are we doing here? I said Virginia, not the airport," she was starting to feel a little freaked out.

"Calm down Kris. I am not going to drive clear across that many states. I don't go far from my private plane. We're going to fly there," he said.

"But…but…no, wait. I don't fly," she stuttered out.

"You don't? Oh, yeah, that whole Kerry thing—crash and burn. Forget about it. He was never good enough for you my dear. Anyway, I'm a prince. Do you really think I'd fly around in some rinky-dink air mobile? Only the best, Kris. It'll be the safest ride you've ever had." He got out of the car and came around to the passenger side door. He opened it and reached his hand in.

"C'mon Kris, let me show you. It's awesome," he said. She put her hand in his but he still had to almost drag her out of the car and further tug her along down to the runway.

"There she is," he exclaimed while pointing.

Kris turned her head and saw a huge plane moving slowly towards them that was definitely nothing like Kerry's little toy.

"_That_'s your private jet?" she asked.

"Yep!" he said proudly. He tugged on her hand again. "C'mon Kris, lets check it out."

She went more willingly along with him. She couldn't help but start smiling. He was as excited as a little boy who wanted to show a new friend his room.

They waited while the stairs were folded out so they could board. The interior of the plane was amazing! Every seat was upholstered in white leather. The seats were long and wide. There was a table with a privacy screen on the other side of the haul. The carpet was white as well, and a giant white comforter sat folded on one of the seats with a pillow. She looked longingly at that seat. She was dead tired.

He laughed at the expression on her face. "Go ahead hon. I called ahead while you were sleeping in the car. I knew you'd want to rest comfortably during the trip."

She sighed in relief and dropped her bag. She briskly walked over to the seat, situated the pillow, opened the comforter and laid down. She wiggled around for a minute before pulling the comforter over top of her and closing her eyes.

After a second she opened them again to find him still standing there smiling at her.

"Thank you," she said. She closed her eyes again and was asleep again in a matter of minutes. She didn't even care if he was still looking at her or not. She was too tired to care about much of anything, not even noticing when he sat down in the seat next to hers while the plane lifted off.

His face grew pensive as he studied hers. She looked so young. He knew she'd already weathered a lot of heartache. He may have just hired her to be his jockey but he already felt like they were old friends.

Turning, he walked to the private business area at the back of the plane. He had left Freemont rather quickly. He needed to make a couple calls and give his regards. He knew which one he would be doing last.

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"Oh, that's fine. Yes, maybe the next time you're in town. I hope everything works out for you. Yes, yes, fine," Dani hung up her cell phone and let out a frustrated moan. She turned to Junior.

"I don't believe it! That was Sheik Omar. He was calling to say he had to put the plans I showed him on hold. On HOLD! Can you believe it? I was counting on that. What am I going to do now? No racing license and no business! I'm back to square one. Junior! Junior? Are you listening to me?" Dani wanted to shake her brother.

"What…huh?" Junior snapped his head over to look at her before swiveling his head forward again.

They had been driving around for hours now looking for Kris. His mind couldn't seem to focus on anything else except for Kris and finding her. He still can't believe what's happening. He was finally starting to think like his dad—Raintree may have won the battle, but we were going to win the war. He had decided that he was going to go after Kris again. He wanted to win her back. His plans were given the proverbial "monkey wrench" with the arrival of Matt Ritter hours ago.

_Six hours ago 11:00pm…………_

He was tired of arguing with Dani. He didn't want her to sign everything over to him, but she kept yelling that it was pointless not to. Imagine being inside the huge Davis mansion and not being able to escape. That's how he was feeling, so he escaped. He told her he was going for a walk and left. He figured he'd walk down by the track, maybe visit Wildfire, he wasn't really sure—he just needed to get away from her.

Of course she decided to follow which led them to more arguing near the barn which started making a few of the horses skittish. Apparently dad and Pablo were having a discussion in the stable office because they came out to see what the ruckus was about. After all the horses were settled, he and Dani made their apologies and were about to leave when they all heard a vehicle drive up outside, honking repeatedly.

We all walked out of the barn to find Matt Ritter opening his truck door and standing up in the doorway. He yelled at Pablo.

"Have you seen Kris?" He looked a little desperate and worried.

Pablo shook his head, "No. Not since this morning." He looked a little concerned too.

Junior snorted, "She's probably around here somewhere. What's the big deal?" He rolled his eyes.

Matt jumped down from the truck and didn't even bother closing his door. He gave Junior a brief disgusted look as he raced for the stable. "I'm gonna check Wildfire's stall." He ran inside.

Junior was thoroughly confused. He looked at Pablo with a quirked eyebrow.

Pablo sighed and started in the same direction as Matt. He said over his shoulder to Junior, "Jean kicked Kris out of Raintree this morning. And the racing commission took her jockey license."

Floored, he looked at Dani and his dad as if seeking confirmation. Dani looked just as shocked as him and his dad looked considering.

Before Pablo reached the stables, Matt came running out holding a letter. "It's addressed to you Pablo. She was here." He handed it to Pablo who tore it open and started reading it.

"Junior?" Ken Davis said. Junior looked at his dad.

"I've got to make an important phone call. Keep me posted," Davis nodded towards Pablo letting Junior know that he wanted to be kept abreast of the situation. Davis then disappeared into the office. Junior just shook his head and turned his attention back to Pablo. He wanted to know what was in that note.

"It just says she's sorry. She's just apologizing for putting Wildfire's life in jeopardy. She didn't say anything else. We don't know how long ago she was here. If she left within the past hour, she could already be back at Raintree or on her way back." Pablo said.

"Mom's not answering the phone. She sold all the horses and was just sitting there crying when I left to try to find Kris. I'll have to drive back down. But if Kris is walking, she may have cut through the fields instead." Matt rushed through his words.

"We'll ride," Junior said, already walking towards the barn.

"Wait… you're going to help?" Matt asked.

Junior looked back at him. "Yes." Matt made eye contact with him and almost smiled, but he was too worried to do so. Junior just nodded at him before turning to go saddle a horse.

Dani had been standing by in mild shock taking everything in. "Wait up Junior. I need a horse too." Both of the guys stopped and turned to look at her. "What? I may not like her, but what difference does it make now? You guys need help." Junior gave her a slight smile and waited for her to meet up with him.

Matt just shook his head, not believing that they would help him with this. Matt jumped into his truck and drove very slowly and cautiously down the road connecting the ranches. He shown the giant flashlight he'd brought with him everywhere, looking for some sign of her.

Finally he arrived at Raintree. He raced through the house, to her room, to the bunkhouse before realizing that she hadn't come back. He was sitting on the front porch when Pablo, Dani, and Junior finally rode the horses in and said that they saw nothing.

They decided to put the horses they rode in on in the empty Raintree stalls for now. They decided Kris must have completely left the area. Everyone piled into Matt's truck to head back to Davis Farms. Dani and Junior hopped into his porsche and drove off in one direction to search while Matt and Pablo drove off in his pickup to search another way.

_Present time, 5:00am in the Porsche……_

"I SAID, that was Sheik Omar on the phone! He cancelled on me! I was counting on him to fund my business ideas! I wouldn't have to depend on dad ever again!" Dani almost shrieked at him.

"Oh. Well, did he say why he cancelled? Maybe you can reschedule?" Junior didn't feel like hearing her scream anymore. He was tired, worried, and cranky. "Why is he calling you at 5am anyway?"

"Because the only time his silly nitwit of an assistant could find for him to meet with me was for breakfast at seven this morning. SEVEN! Eek. And of COURSE I tried to reschedule. Do you think I'm a halfwit? What kind of question is that?" She was livid and panicking.

"Well, did he say why he was cancelling?" Junior really just wanted her to shut up.

"A family emergency. That was it. He has to go back home. As in Europe. As in his castle, for an emergency!" She rolled her eyes.

"Uh, yeah… because that's not reason enough," Junior rolled his own eyes at her.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me. Do you have any idea how long it could be before he comes BACK here?" She asked.

"A couple months?" He guessed.

"Oh, well, gee Junior, I don't know. Seeing as how he's been to our neck of the woods ONCE in his life, I don't think the chances for his return are all that huge. Damn that man anyway! This is all his fault! If he hadn't come to us with that stupid race, none of this would have ever happened!" She let out a harsh sigh.

"Oh yeah, because he is completely at fault here," Junior rolled his eyes again. He was really getting tired of rolling his eyes at his sister, but she really was illogical sometimes.

"I need to go home. I'm tired. I'm hungry. I'm dirty. And I think we've just driven over the same stretch of road that we have driven over thirty times already. It's been six hours! If she wanted to be found, she'd be found!" Dani demanded.

"Dani…" Junior started.

"Don't you 'Dani' me! You know it and I know it. I don't even know why you're out here anyway. She already left you. Why are you helping now that she left Matt too?"

"Because she didn't just leave Matt. She left Raintree. She loves that place more than anything. She has to be hurting so much right now. I just need to make sure she is some place safe, can't you understand that?"

Dani snorted.

"Fine!" Junior had had enough of Dani. "I'll take you home. Just do me a favor and be quiet for the rest of the ride."

Dani leaned back in her seat with a sigh. She really hated arguing with her brother, but sometimes too little sleep made Dani the uber bitch.

Junior's cell phone started ringing. He grabbed it up quickly, hoping for some good news. "Hello!"

"Junior, it's Matt. Any luck?"

Junior let out the breath he'd been holding. "No. We've got nothing. Dani wants me to take her back home."

"Yeah… Pablo thinks we should go back to the ranch too. Get some rest since we've been out all night. He thinks she'll come back soon," Matt explained. He didn't sound happy to be following Pablo's lead. He did sound exhausted though, that probably had something to do with him caving in.

"He's probably right Matt," Junior swallowed the huge lump in his throat. He was lying through his teeth. "Where would she go anyway? She hates her father right? And that's where her brother is."

"Yeah…and plus she left her phone… wait a minute," Matt's voice got a little more life. "Drop Dani off. I'll drop off Pablo. Meet me at Raintree. We can do some looking around. She left her phone behind, maybe she left something else that will help us find her."

"Alright, I'll be there soon," Junior said.

"And Junior?" Matt asked.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, thanks man… for helping and all," Matt stuttered.

"Yeah, well…I'm not doing this for you, but you're welcome," Junior was never going to forgive Matt—a best friends' ex-girlfriend is _always_ off limits—but he could put aside their differences right now. He hung up the phone.

He kept on driving. It didn't take him long at all to get back to Davis Farm. He dropped Dani off and sped down the road towards Raintree. The sun was already climbing up in the sky. It was the dawn of a new day. They would find some clue, he was sure of it.

_Kris, wherever you are, I'm going to find you baby. That's a promise I will keep._


End file.
